LETTER: School land deal not handled appropriately

Olympia Hines McCrackinTuscaloosa

Published: Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 8:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 8:18 p.m.

Dear Editor: The 2012 four-member “free land” deal negotiated by Gov. Robert Bentley, the Department of Mental Health, the Tuscaloosa Park and Recreation Authority and Ol’ Colony Golf Complex sounded underhanded to me. If the deal was totally “above board,” why stipulate that the Board of Education had to start building a school on the site by 2016? Why isn’t it allowed to use the land, if it chooses to, in the best interest of the school system? How many other public secrets are there in the works? What’s the ultimate goal behind the free land deal anyway: build a new school and then incorporate into a new school system?

What kind of tactics is Chairman Lee Garrison bringing to the school board? To invite only one other board member, novice Norman Crow, to a meeting in order to avoid the open meetings law was totally inappropriate. This is a system issue and not a district issue in my opinion, and the entire board should have been involved in the discussion from the beginning. Whether there are “no hard feelings” isn’t the issue, and I hope how this issue was handled is not the future of how business is transacted on our city school board.

<p>Dear Editor: The 2012 four-member “free land” deal negotiated by Gov. Robert Bentley, the Department of Mental Health, the Tuscaloosa Park and Recreation Authority and Ol' Colony Golf Complex sounded underhanded to me. If the deal was totally “above board,” why stipulate that the Board of Education had to start building a school on the site by 2016? Why isn't it allowed to use the land, if it chooses to, in the best interest of the school system? How many other public secrets are there in the works? What's the ultimate goal behind the free land deal anyway: build a new school and then incorporate into a new school system?</p><p>What kind of tactics is Chairman Lee Garrison bringing to the school board? To invite only one other board member, novice Norman Crow, to a meeting in order to avoid the open meetings law was totally inappropriate. This is a system issue and not a district issue in my opinion, and the entire board should have been involved in the discussion from the beginning. Whether there are “no hard feelings” isn't the issue, and I hope how this issue was handled is not the future of how business is transacted on our city school board.</p>